Friday

On Grumpiness

photo by Charles Blackhall

It’s a grumpy time of year, for me anyway. It’s raining, the leaves have fallen, the kale is wilting in the garden, and the skies are mostly grey.

I sigh, breathe out and feel some kind of tender rawness. I’m grumpy. But I’m starting to think it’s not a bad thing. There’s a wellspring of depth, a source of creativity here in this misty, moist mind-space. Things feel possible, not stuck. But things are not quite what I want them to be. It’s almost like the grumpiness is a physical reaction to resting with things as they are. I’m not caught up in a fantasy of how I want things to be, and there’s a grittiness to my experience. Things just are as they are. It’s tender. It’s a little scary, it’s uncomfortable, but it’s real, earthy, pungent.

Deep down in the underbelly of the mountains, where trolls and other dark creepy-crawlies live, down deep, where the water comes from, are the roots of things. The roots of our thoughts, the lineage of our emotions and experience arises out of this deep, dark space. It must be why dragons dive deep down into the mountains, must be where they collect the dew that glistens on their scales when they ascend to fly high above, sparkling in the air. Without the creative renewal of diving back to our roots, we remain rootless, ungrounded, untethered to reality as it is.

When we ground down to our roots we are more able to open up to the truth of reality. For me, there is a flavor of sadness to this truth. Sadness and joy as well. I begin to taste the true soil of my experience and it allows me to slowly spread my wings and soar up through misty clouds into the fearless, directionless, sun filled space of reality.

On this November 1st, this dia de los muertos, I ask you to be earthy. Feel grumpy. Trust the roots and ride the tides. We do not need to overcome grumpiness. But we can learn how to ride the grump with cheerfulness. We can become cheerful grumps. Tasting reality, as it is, right now, this very moment.

~~
The Shambhala Times is the Shambhala community’s international news hub. We are all about communication, and we want to hear from you. Join the conversation, share your stories, ask your questions. We are in this together.

Share your voice. Share your perspective. We want to hear from you.

~~
Sarah Lipton has been the Shambhala Times Editor-in-Chief for just over two years. She plans to continue in this role for a little while longer, even though her world travels are slowing down and she and her husband are getting ready to settle down in the Burlington, Vermont area. What does she plan to do this fall and winter? Write books, make quilts, and cook delicious food. See previous editorials here.